I offer a less straightforwardly northern perspective, as a Canadian
living on the south shore of Lake Superior.
I think it's misleading to suggest that the Canadian Conservative
government is blocking progress towards a "real response to climate
change". In the election just one month ago it was the Liberal
opposition that ran on a platform with as it's centerpiece a "Green
Shift" that emphasized carbon taxes to incentivize emission
reductions. This emphasis was so compelling that Canadian voters
chose to return only 77 of 95 Liberals to the House of Commons, a loss
of 25% in representation. And this is after the Green Party
encouraged (not too quietly) strategic voting for the Liberals to
block Tory seats. The voters have spoken, and they chose the
Conservative party platform over the Liberal-Green party.
But moreover, it's misleading to think that Obama's election is the
hope that Canadians need to help forge new leadership on the climate
change front. The CBC reported today that the Harper government and
president-elect Obama actually have the same plan. Both have stated
the same goal: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by
2020. Both apparently favour cap-and-trade as the mechanism.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/05/canada-us-environment.html
Canadians endorsed the plan from the Harper Conservatives last month.
Does this imply the US is now going to be keeping up to progress in
the north?
Cheers,
...Robert
On Nov 5, 2008, at 12:03 PM, Alison Munson wrote:
From a cooler northern perspective:
Many of us were as glued to the screen as Americans last evening.
I am just RELIEVED that the Bush years are almost behind (can you
minimize the rest of the damage he is trying to do before leaving?)
I believe it will be easier to advance real response to climate change
in the next years, world-wide. I don't underestimate the importance of
the US agenda to Canadian policies; we will have to keep up to any
progress to the south, even though our conservative government has
been
trying to block progress on an international level. I am not sure this
will be possible without the moral support that was present from the
Bush administration.
I am elated. Maybe this was driven by personal economic reasons in
some
large part (among other good reasons), but honestly, today I don't
care.
All the best for the next years with Barak. We are watching with
fascination.
Alison
--
Robert Froese, PhD, RPF
Assistant Professor of Biometrics
School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Voice: 906-487-2723; Fax: 906-487-2915
Nothing I say should reasonably be construed as endorsed by my employer.
